The Irish standard., 1887-04-30
LARRY 0'KANE'S APPARITl0N.
The Remarkable Story Related by
Well Known United States
Army Officer,
LARRY, SPEAK TO NE p
How the Spirit of Departed Oomrade Ap-
peared Simultaneously in Amer
lea and Ireland

HARRIsB URG, April 13.-"I don't
believe in ghosts, spirits, OF supernatu-
raj yisitations of any kind" said an Old
and we'll known army officer who has
been spending a few days in this city,
"but that under certain conditions
there are mysterious nesmeric, psy-
Geological OF occult influences brought
to bear upon the human organism With
the most extraordinary. startling and
inexplicable results no man has better
reason to believe than myself, | have
never attempted to make the slightest
endeavor to solve Or understand these
mysteries. am content to believe that
| was once the medium through which
a result of this kind, the most amazing
of any have ever read of, either in al
legged fact acknowledged fiction, was
accomplished,
''l was a lieutenant in the Fourteenth
United States Regular Infantry during
the late war. AS you may know, IS
great many dashing and ambitious
young soldiers from the Fapal army in
Rome came over early during the war,
and through the influence OF Archbishop
Hughes obtained commissions in the
Union army. With these, and still not
of them, was young 1rlslman, whom
[ viii cali Larry O'Iane. That was
not has right name, and it was years be-
fore I learned what hrs name really
was. do not give it now. for reasons
that will presently be obvious to you.
My regiment was stationed in the vi
cinity of IIayre de Grace when this
young Irlshman was assigned to a lieu
tenancy in it. Iranked him by one file.
There was something about the boy--for
he wasn't more than 20-that attached
me- to him at once. He WAS handsome,
manly, and every inch a soldier. There
was peculiar eserve about him, and a
melancholy that added to the interest
his coming awoke in me, was getting
up mess at the time, and asked the
young Irishman to mess with me, and
be accepted the Invitation. We were
not long in becoming the best Of
friends. We shared all the comforts and
,ijscomforts of march and bivouac
While he was courteous and polite to
all cur comrades, he seldom talked with
any besides myself, and even to me he
never spoke about himself, except On
rare occasions will mention. 1t was
plain to me chat there was a mystery Of
some kind connected with him, but
although I might have had a pardon
able curiosity to know what it was, l.
never permitted myself to trespass on
his too apparent desire to have it re-
main a mystery. The young officer al
ways had plenty Of money, which was
by no means a usual thing with us SOL
diers in those days. He was free with
his purse. He never drank, nor re-
lieyed the nlonotony of camp life by
that boon to mankind, game of draw.
He smoked, and his collection Of meers-
chaums was vision. Young Lieut..
O'Kane, reserved, melancholy, and ex-
elusive as he was, was beloved in the
regiment from the colonel down to the
last private in the rearranks.
ION one or two occasions, when we
were expecting to be called upon to join
in some 1ooked-for battle, and lay in
our tent smoking and talking, he said
to me that if anything happened to him
he wanted me to be his executor, and
on those occasions, as I believe now. he
would have told me his story if i had
indicated an inclination to hear it, but
I always replied to him in trifiing
manner and laughed at the idea OF a
soldier having anything that would give
an executor work to do. But his mplan.
choly increased at those times, and am
sure he had presentiment of what was
coming.
"Well, we got into active service by
and by. We were in the thickest of the
fight at Gaines Mill, and the GOODNESS
of that boy officer, with old soldiers fall
ing around him like dead leaves, was
the marvel of the regiment. Our regi-
ment was with the others of the COM
mand that subsequently collected at and
about White Oak Swamp. Lieut..
O'Kane and myself lay smoking IN our
tent, and he once more began on the
matter Of the executorship. He said
enough to assure me that it only needed
word from me to learn his life mys-
terry; but / foolishly treated his man
ner lightly, and while [ was chatting
him on his gloomy forebodings there
came an order from She captain direct
ing me to pick force of twenty-five Or
thirty trusty men and make reconnois-
sance beyond the lines, as there v ere sns-
picions of rebels lurking in the vicinity
on our right flank, the truth of which it
was important to know, as we were all